The Machine

Full disclosure: I am a four-wheel drive kinda guy. So when in Australia, drive as the Australians! In fact with a machine that doesn’t exist in Europe: The Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series. One of the very last survivors of the species that once was founded by and on Jeep, Land Rover, Puch / Mercedes and Toyota. Land Rover stopped producing the Defender, Mercedes pimped up the Puch G for millionaires, Jeep will soon redesign the classic Wrangler but Japan still produces a very basic 4×4 for some selected markets. Some say it is the best overland vehicle on earth.

This beast has nothing you expect of a modern vehicle: Electric windows, power mirrors, automatic gearbox, traction control, … No chance! You get a 4.5 liter diesel V8 for massive torque and power along with a truck-like gearbox, solid axles and locking differentials. Yes, I am looking forward to getting it dirty 🙂

7 thoughts on “The Machine”

I have always loved Land Cruisers they are a breed of their own, but they continue to get softer and softer every model. All those things you list that it does t come with it now does. Gone is the live axle in the front and I don’t think you can even get a manual trans. You still have locking diffs but from the factory the new models sport weak street tires better suited for boulevard cruising than any adverse terrain.

You’re in the US, right? The Tacoma is quite a machine as well, but yeah, it’s a modern 4×4 with all the bling. For transport segments on the bitumen I could happily imagine something like that, but off-road the 70 series is a BEAST 😀

Yep, U.S., here in the states the most capable vehicle we have on the market is arguably the Jeep Wrangler (both the two door and four door unlimited models) they are the only body on frame “SUVs” on the market with a solid live axle front and rear. The Tacoma and its SUV brother the 4Runner are also extremely capable off-road. Toyota’s Prado isn’t available in the states but there is a Lexus equivalent. I’d say the Land cruiser of today isn’t a great value from an overland perspective. You could build a far more capable Jeep / 4Runner / Tacoma / Armada (our version of the Nissan Patrol) / or Frontier, at least here in the states anyway. Honestly from a repeatability and reliability standpoint I’d choose a 70 series over the modern equivalent.